Polar Vortex Hits the United States

Polar Vortex Hits the United States

The bitter cold brings record lows, as nearly half the United States faces frigid temperatures.

MINNEAPOLIS -- The bitter cold brings record lows, as nearly half the United States faces frigid temperatures. Icy cold temperatures gripping the United states, the coldest in nearly twenty years.

The cause: a weather phenomenon known as a "Polar Vortex". It makes temperatures plummet to major lows where you least expect it, and by Wednesday, nearly half the nation is expected to hit zero or lower. On Monday, t was warmer in Anchorage, Alaska, than it was in southern cities like Atlanta, Georgia, and Nashville, Tennessee.

In Minneapolis, it hovered below zero in the double digits, but it actually felt like 40 below zero. This bitterly cold, arctic air mass is not only potentially one for the record books, but the zero-degree chill is downright dangerous.

Copyright 2014 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.